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Catalog Data

Creator:
Biddle, George, 1885-1973  Search this
Subject:
Brooks, Van Wyck  Search this
Kuniyoshi, Yasuo  Search this
Shahn, Ben  Search this
Sterne, Maurice  Search this
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano)  Search this
Pascin, Jules  Search this
Diederich, William Hunt  Search this
Poor, Henry Varnum  Search this
Poor, Anne  Search this
Pound, Ezra  Search this
Berenson, Bernard  Search this
Brewer, Bessie Marsh  Search this
Federal Art Project  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Fine Arts  Search this
United States. Department of the Treasury. Section of Painting and Sculpture  Search this
Supreme Court Building (Mexico City, Mexico)  Search this
National Library Building (Rio de Janerio, Brazil)  Search this
Justice Dept. Building (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Type:
Diaries
Place:
United States -- Social conditions -- 1933-1945
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Other
Physical Description:
0.76 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as one series. Series 1: George Biddle Papers, circa 1910-1970 (0.7 linear feet; Box 1, OVs 2-4, MGP4)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center.
Summary:
The papers of New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973), measure 0.76 linear feet and date from circa 1910-1970. The collection includes a certificate signed by President Harry Truman, transcripts of Biddle's diaries, a manuscript of a memoir about meeting President Franklin Roosevelt, three letters from William Hunt Diederich's daughter, transcripts of letters from Bernard Berenson, sketches and mural studies, and two glass plate negatives.
Citation:
George Biddle papers, circa 1910-1970. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Portions of the collection and material lent for microfilming are available on 35mm microfilm reels 3621, D127, P17-P18, 899 and 4909 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Funding:
Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
Originals of the edited diary transcripts in this collection are in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division. The unedited diary has many more entries than the edited version and includes more details about Biddle's daily life and work, versions of articles by Biddle, and lists of his works of art through 1934. The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming, including one of Biddle's original diaries, 1933-1935 (reel D127), records from the Federal Art Project, personal correspondence, articles and talks relating to Artists Equity (reels P17-P18), and a photocopy of Biddle's inventory notebook listing artwork and exhibitions (reel 4909). While the inventory notebook was discarded after microfilming, all other loaned materials were returned to the lender and are not described in the collection container inventory.
Biography Note:
New York painter and muralist George Biddle (1885-1973) proposed to President Franklin Roosevelt the establishment of a federal relief program for artists during the Depression, and subsequently painted a number of government murals under the auspices of the Federal Art Project, including murals for the Department of Justice in 1935.
Biddle was born to a prominent Philadelphia family and graduated from Harvard College. He studied at the Académie Julian and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and served in the United States Army in World War I, before returning to New York where he had his first series of one-man shows.
In 1933 Biddle wrote to long-time friend President Franklin Roosevelt, to suggest a work relief program that supported mural painters. Although the idea initially met with opposition, Biddle persisted and the resulting art projects of the Works Progress Administration went on to support the production of thousands of paintings in government buildings throughout the country during the Depression.
In 1940 Biddle was invited by the Mexican government to create a mural for the supreme court building in Mexico City. Biddle had visited Mexico in 1928 where he had traveled and sketched with Diego Rivera, and seen firsthand the value of government sponsored art programs.
In addition to his murals, Biddle was also known for his portraits, lithographs, and paintings. His work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others. His work has been shown throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and India in over a hundred one-man shows and group exhibitions.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
The papers on reels P12-P18 were loaned for microfilming in 1954 by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, PA. George Biddle lent the material on reel D127 in 1963 and donated the rest of the collection to the Archives of American Art between 1966-1970. In 1972, Michael Biddle, George Biddle's son, gifted a photocopy of an inventory notebook that was discarded after microfilming.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
New Deal, 1933-1939  Search this
Federal aid to the arts  Search this
Mural painting and decoration, American  Search this
Art and state -- United States  Search this
Muralists  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
New Deal  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)7126
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)209260
AAA_collcode_biddgeor
Theme:
Diaries
New Deal
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_209260